Max Verstappen beat Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to pole position for Saturday’s sprint race at the United States Grand Prix.
Norris led the first two qualifying segments, but a thrilling lap by the reigning champion on a thrilling Circuit of The Americas secured first place for good. Verstappen set purple times in the first and last sectors, setting the benchmark at 1.32.143 seconds, giving Norris just 0.071 seconds ahead of first place on the grid.
“It was a nice qualification,” he said. “I think we were pretty close in all segments. It was about trying to bring everything together when it mattered.”
The result is significant for Red Bull Racing, which arrived in Austin thinking the circuit and its plentiful long, medium-speed corners would favor McLaren. Although Verstappen said the race pace remained unclear after just one practice session, he hoped he could convert.
“This was… a very good day,” he said. “I still expect it to be a tough battle in the sprint tomorrow, but that is exactly what we want to see.
“I hope we have a good pace in the race, but we will find out tomorrow.”
Norris’s best middle sector during the session was not enough to beat the Red Bull pace, but was more than enough to stay ahead of teammate Piastri, whose best lap put him 0.38 seconds off pole and 0.309 seconds behind the sister car, although his best time was fast enough to keep him third on the grid despite the margin.
Nico Hülkenberg was a shock fourth for Sauber in the German’s first top 10 appearance of the year in any qualifying format, 0.502 seconds off the pace.
George Russell followed in fifth place after Mercedes made him one of only three drivers to complete two fast laps on one set of tires in the eight-minute SQ3 session.
Fernando Alonso will finish sixth, ahead of Carlos Sainz, who also completed two laps in SQ3.
Lewis Hamilton led the way for Ferrari in eighth place, ahead of Alex Albon, whose two-lap strategy was not fast enough for a better grid spot, and a disappointed Charles Leclerc in tenth.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli missed SQ3 by just 0.006 seconds to a late-improving Hamilton, leaving him 11th on the grid. The Italian could blame a lock-up at Turn 11, with the left-hander leading into the straight, as it cost him a shot.
Isack Hadjar was eliminated in twelfth, ahead of Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll.
Liam Lawson will line up in 15th after having his only lap scrapped for running wide at Turn 19, although the time would have been fast enough for just 14th. However, the Kiwi regretted being held up by the Ferrari drivers on that one attempt, ruining the lap before breaching the track limits.
Oliver Bearman was eliminated in 16th, ahead of Franco Colapinto after the Haas driver failed to leave the pit lane in time to start his final flying lap. The Haas driver was among the cars punished for being caught in the pit lane and on their outlap.
That list also included Yuki Tsunoda, who finished 18th after battling Liam Lawson for track position on his final lap.
Esteban Ocon and Gabriel Bortoleto qualified 19th and 20th after also getting caught in traffic on their final laps.
It was a particularly painful experience for Bortoleto, who had his opening lap canceled for running wide and off the track at Turn 19, although that lap would have been good enough for just one place higher on the grid.
RESULTS
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